MARTIN LING believes Orient deserved the point they took from their final game of 2007 at Hartlepool on Saturday.

Adam Chambers' first half goal was cancelled out by Ian Moore's strike and Ling was pleased with the way his side bounced back from the Boxing Day loss at Bournemouth.

He said: "I think it was a fair result and it's one I'd have taken if you had offered it to me before the game.

"This is a very difficult place to come to, especially after the disappointment of the Bournemouth game. We need to put in a spirited perfomance following that and I think we did throughout the team.

"We didn't win the game, but it still feels as if we've put in a positive performance."

Goalscorer Chambers - along with the rest of the midfield quartet - drew praise from Ling.

"Adam was immense today," he added. "It was a great move for his goal and it was an excellent performance from our midfield four as a unit.

"I think JJ Melligan had his best game for the football club and Wayne Corden, who also came back in today, did his shift too. Paul Terry and Chambo deserve credit as well, as do a lot of the others, but I just thought that unit looked more solid today."

The draw at Hartlepool takes Orient to the halfway point of the season and the O's boss says there is still more to come from his team.

He added: "We're now halfway through the season and if you look at where we've come from, it's been great progress,

"It's 36 points from 23 games and if you multiply it by two that's 72, which gets you in the play-offs nine times out of ten.

"Some people may look at it and say we're now seventh so we're on a downward spiral, but I think today's performance proves that there's still life in us yet."